Chapter 12: Tower of Heaven
Well I was really disappointed with what I saw the last chapter. Literally I got like four reviews. Last chapter nothing really changed except the start of an original Tower of Heaven arc with a different Erza and a little more matured Natsu. Well I only update sooner compared to how much reviews I get, but I just really wanted to update this chapter since it's important to the plot.
As you can tell by the last two chapters, The Battle of Fairy Tail arc is gone. Since Laxus faced a traumatic scene involving someone close dying, he would lose the desire to take control of Fairy Tail.
Honestly, please review. I really do enjoy reading what people think of my stories; if it's good or bad. Give me at least 20 reviews, that would be its own accomplishment.
Begin.
The environment of the casino was lively.
Erza noticed this as she passed the many different tables with people happily enjoying their time playing. She actually clutched her right upper arm as she noticed many men looking toward her. The same look Naruto used to give to her when he gazed upon her.
"Erza, let's try our luck over there, at the Blackjack table!" Lucy happily said as she looked toward Erza. Natsu, Grey and Happy went their own separate ways a while back, leaving Erza and Lucy alone. Erza nodded in approval as she followed Lucy to the Blackjack table.
Erza sat down at the table, as Lucy decided to watch instead. Erza was surprised by her luck as the first two cards set in front of her was an ace and a jack. The dealer flipped his hidden card, showing his six with a jack.
Erza watched again as she was given two tens this time. She watched around as the others got their own cards, deciding to stay with her own. The dealer flipped his own cards, showing that he has lost and Erza has won.
"Wow Erza, you must be really lucky today." Lucy said as she watched another set, with Erza winning again. Erza just nodded as she never had such luck before in gambling. The only times she actual recalled winning any bets was when something bad usually happens.
She kept her eyes on the table as she waited for the next set. From the corner of her eyes she noticed the dealer change, who also pulled out a different deck. She watched as he started setting cards in front of her. Erza spelled the word "death" from the cards, before she also heard a loud explosion coming from two different locations. She looked up to see someone she never imagined she would see again.
The man before her was one of the few she could say caused her a smile while imprisoned at the Tower of Heaven; this man was Sho, the small boy that saw her as an older sister. Sho was a dark skin young man with wavy blond hair and dark beady eyes. Below his lower lip was a 5-shaped tattoo, vibrant as he smirked toward Erza. He also had a yellow buttoned waistcoat and a diamond earing on his left ear.
Sho pointed behind Erza, as if motioning for her to look what was occurring. Erza didn't take her eyes off Sho, until she heard the sound of Lucy screaming. Erza turned to see another person she shared imprisonment with.
This young girl appeared to be about 16 years old with a curvaceous figure and standing at an average height. She has brown hair styled into cat ears at her crown and tied into two ponytails at the base. What stood out the most of this girl was the four whisker-like tattoos that made her appearance cat-like. She is wearing a yellow jacket with white stripes and black trimmings over her pink dress with a white bow tie on it. This girl was none other than Millianna, another who shared this hell named The Tower of Heaven.
Millianna made a sound similar to a cat as she stood next to a tied-up Lucy, wo was blushing by the way she was trapped.
"Wait! Stop Millianna, Lucy is my friend!" Erza protested as she recovered from the shock of seeing her old friends. She would never say she could forget those she left behind at that place, but the guilt was forgotten by the affection of Naruto.
"But aren't we still friends, Erza?" Sho said as he walked around the table and went to stand next to Millianna. Millianna smiled toward Erza as well, before telling Simon on the communicator he gave her that they found Erza.
"You all escap-" Erza couldn't finish as the darkness consumed them. Once the light reappeared, Erza looked around for Sho, until she heard him behind her.
"Look Erza, I know magic as well." Sho said as he showed her the people trapped in her card dimension spell. She stood there shocked by the revelations appearing before her until she saw another childhood friend appear before her, though he looked different.
A man with geometrical shapes resembling that of blocks appeared next to Millianna, blatantly leering Erza's body. He wore a royal blue suit with a white collared shirt and red necktie. He also wore black, oval-shaped sunglasses, a boater hat, and a white scarf can be seen hanging loosely around his neck. The once normal boy grew up to be the now Dandy Wally.
Sho walks to be next to the group again as another one appeared. A man with a turban, eye patch on his left hand and a metal jaw appeared.
"Simon, look we found Erza-neesan!" Millianna said as he looked toward the man with the metal jaw. He nodded toward her.
"Yeah, and nee-san has become so beautiful." Sho said as he looked toward Erza.
"Erza, why do they call you sister?" Lucy question from her bounded position. Wally was triggered by that question as he pointed his gun toward Lucy. Erza was shocked by this action before she noticed his hand disappear. Erza quickly ducked when she felt something come from behind her.
"Aw Erza-neesan, it would be easier to take you back if you were sleeping." Millianna argued before she saw a sword appear in Erza's hand.
"I won't go back to that-" Erza was not allowed to finish as she watched Simon pull out a dagger and held it close to Lucy's neck.
"I'm sorry Erza, but Jellal has asked us to bring you back at any cost." Simon said as he waited for Erza to act. He trusted that Erza was still the caring girl he once loved and would surrender.
Erza looked at Simon for a few seconds before calling her sword back to her pocket dimension. She looked away as brought her hands forward. Simon motioned for Millianna to tie her up, as she happily complied. Erza just gave an apologetic gaze toward Lucy as Millianna finished tying Erza with her magic-binding Nekosoku Tube.
"A doll, I got you a gift you may like." Wally pulled out the unconscious Happy as he threw him toward Millianna, who grabbed him into a powerful hug. Erza just looked on ashamed, before Sho appeared and wrapped his arms around her shoulders.
"Don't worry nee-san, they'll be fine." Sho gave a smirk as he continued. "You should be happy instead. We are going home!"
It was a relatively quiet ride back to the place Erza spent her childhood enslaved in. Erza was quiet as she stared at her lap. She could not look at them; ashamed for what she has done for them, or what she hasn't done for them. She could not save these people, these friends from the same hell that scarred her childhood. Sho noticed this discomfort as he scooted closer to Erza.
"You know nee-san, Jellal told us all about your life after you betrayed him and left." Sho mentioned as he smiled toward Erza. Erza wanted to tell them on how they were being fooled by Jellal, but she couldn't.
"He told us all about the many friends you made to replace us; the adventures we used to say we would take when we were held as slaves…" Sho said with a look telling her that her leaving them there trapped while she was having adventures with new friends, made him resent her.
"Sho…"
"No, don't worry about nee-san…at least you returned back home." Sho said as he pointed toward the prison that Erza lived in captivity.
"...how will you handle this situation Titania." A cloaked man said as he sat on a big rock, staring up at the tower that was created solely to bring back Zeref.
"Good question…how will she handle it?" The cloaked man was surprised by the voice behind him. He turned to see who it was, only to stop when a blade was held a few inches from his throat. The man was surprised to see none other than Naruto standing in front of him with a smirk.
"Hoho, well if it isn't the famed Blind Blade." The cloaked man said with a mock bow. Naruto just stayed silent as his smirk widened. Then Naruto just laughed as he pulled his bade away from the man. He dug it into the ground before leisurely leaning on it.
"…who are you?" Naruto asked as he tried to analyze what was this man's intentions here and why was he speaking of Erza.
"Oh? You don't remember me?" The man said with a smirk, hidden behind his mask. Naruto frowned at this man's respond as he tried to recall if he ever met this man.
"Nah, don't think we met." Naruto said as he then felt something malicious happen. He was momentarily left unbalanced as his sword was pulled into the ground, that has begun radiating a weird smoke. Then it was apparent Naruto has figured who this man was, by his momentary glare at the floor.
"…you were there, weren't you?" Naruto asked vaguely as he summoned two blades in each hand.
"Hehe yes I was there to witness you destroy my sweet home of Konoha." The cloaked man said told Naruto.
"Hn and I thought everyone died that day," Naruto yawned as he rolled his neck. He gripped his blades before he prepared to strike the cloaked man. "Guess I have- "
Naruto could not finish what he was saying as the cloaked man raised his hand. "I honestly came here to observe, so can we not?"
"Eh, I don't know if you heard, but this isn't going to be a fight," Naruto disappeared and re-appeared behind the cloaked man, before piercing one sword into the cloaked man. Naruto held the other in a reverse-hand hold before giving the cloaked man a smile. "Sorry pal, but tell the old man I said hi."
Naruto cut the cloaked man in half, or he believed he did. He turned into black smoke that passed through him before dissipating in the air. Naruto looked around to find where that cloaked man went to, but found nothing. He sighed as he held his annoyance. Never noticing the small white-scaled snake that went through a crack opening of the tower.
Erza was tired right now. Going through all this reminiscing of her childhood as a slave has really caused her to feel fatigued. She was able to catch Sho off-guard when he was busy explaining the plan of reviving someone.
She walked out of the room she was held captive in, until she felt an uneasy feeling pass her. She gripped the blade she summoned once she was free from her binds, as she calmly walked down the corridor with her eyes closed.
She took a small breath as she threw her sword to the wall, as a small snake slithered away from the blade that nearly hit it. Erza sighed as she went to get her blade from the wall. As she touched the hilt of her blade, a sudden chill passed through her body. She pulled back her hand, which began shaking abruptly.
'Why am I shaking?' She was pulled out of her thoughts as she heard the screams of guards closing in on her. She glared at those men as she dodged the first man's spear before grabbing his wrist. She pulled her arm back before giving a hard elbow to knock him out. She grabbed the unconscious man's spear and used it to block another's incoming attack.
She pushed him before using the bottom of the spear to assault a guard who tried to attack her from her left. The bottom of the spear hit him in his abdomen, causing him to bend over after having his air taken out. She drops the spear and ends up grabbing the man by his head, leading to Erza smashing him through the wall. She releases the man's head and lets him drop down, as she glares at the remaining guards looking to fight her.
The remaining guards start to shake in fear as they stare at Erza, who was quietly glaring at them. She summons another blade as she raises her hand. She then surprises the remaining guards when she begins to count how many of them left.
"18…19… only 19." Erza said as she held her blade in such stance familiar to a blonde mage. Some of the guards were shaking in fear by her actions, while some changed into anger from the fear they had before.
"Wha-" Their sentences were not finished as a slash appeared across their chests. Erza just remained quiet as she walked over the unconscious men that were easily defeated by her. While she knew she had to go see Jellal and find out why she was brought back, her mind was still more occupied in figuring out why she felt uneasy earlier.
"Jellal-sama what are you thinking in letting those intruders enter like that!" Vidaldus said as he argued with Jellal.
"I told you that this is a game, one which has gotten even more interesting than I expected." Jellal said as he was not stupid and knew the habit The Blind Blade was known for. Ultear has informed him about it. The habit to always watch over Erza whenever he could.
"But if we don't proceed quickly with our ceremony, the council will be aware of what we are doing."
"Vidaldus…. You're still worried about that?" Jellal said with a sinister smirk. "Everything is in our favor, especially with a special guest that has graced us with his presence."
Jellal leaned on his fist as he looked toward the corner of the room. In that corner was what appeared to be an eyeball, floating freely staring at Jellal. Jellal smirked at the floating presence in his throne room.
While in another room, a blonde man was leaning on a wall, holding his hand over his left eye. Naruto smirked himself as he realized that he was expected here in the first place. 'Guess you expected me to come… and I have a theory in how'
Naruto leaned his head on the wall as he sighed heavily. "Sigh… girls are troublesome."
END
Well it has been a long time since I have updated any of my stories which disappoints me more then you realized. It has to do with problem in sentence structures (Black Blade, Blade of Decay and Sleeping Dragon) and annoyance with people who aren't patient with my approach (Forgotten Fairy and Regret)
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